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Fairfax Year in Review: January 2023

Our retrospective on the news of the year
2023-review-fairfax

JANUARY:

• With all of Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors and School Board seats on the ballot in November, candidates are starting to announce their intentions.

• Housing experts say Fairfax County may see a moderating of the growth of home-sales prices in the county, but is not facing any threat of major declines.

• Fiscal watchdogs have criticized the Fairfax County library system for shelling out big bucks to hire authors for speaking engagements.

• Fairfax officials say blight is infecting beech trees across the county, similar to issues being faced across much of the eastern U.S.

• Fairfax library officials say that when all is tallied, the system will have recorded just over 10 million material loans for 2022, with John Grisham’s “The Judge’s List” the most frequently checked out book.

• Fairfax County Park Authority officials say they plan to increase some user fees to keep pace with costs.

• McLean Little League has proposed to pay for conversion of a field at Linway Terrace Park in McLean to synthetic turf so it can be used more frequently.

• Virginia hospitals continue to face staffing shortages, according to a state body.

• Betsy May-Salazar has started as the new executive director of the McLean Community Center.

• Democrat Holly Seibold came out on top in a special election over Republican Monique Baroudi to win the open Vienna/Oakton-based seat in the House of Delegates caused by the resignation of Del. Mark Keam.

• The McLean Citizens Association is rapping Fairfax County leaders for not doing enough to preserve tree canopy in the county.

• Members of the Vienna Town Council voted themselves a 50-percent pay raise, to $7,500 for Council members and $11,250 for the mayor, to take effect in January 2024.

• Republicans now hold a 2-to-1 majority on the Fairfax County Electoral Board, owing to the election in 2021 of Republican Glenn Youngkin as governor.

• Vienna officials are asking local businesses and organizations to take part in the town’s 2023 “Sustainability Challenge,” which will run through the spring.

• Some McLean residents say they are horrified by tree-cutting near Live Oak Drive, done in advance of building a new interchange for the 495 NEXT transportation initiative.

• A government proposal to pave Hickory Hollow Lane in Oakton and add stormwater-management facilities to address flooding has drawn criticism from some living there.

• For the first time since the pandemic, the annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (WATCH) Awards will be held in person this spring.

• Rev. Michael Burbidge, the Roman Catholic bishop of Arlington, lamented the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on the last day of 2022.

• In another sign of a post-COVID return, ITA Airways has announced it will commence five-day-a-week service between Washington Dulles International Airport and Rome over the summer.